AN ACT CONCERNING A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY'S USE OF AN AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE RECOGNITION SYSTEM.

SUMMARY:

This bill requires that law enforcement agencies that use automated license plate recognition systems expunge the data the system collects and the agency stores within 14 days after collection unless the data is relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation or prosecution.
It applies the same requirement to a law enforcement agency that receives the data from a law enforcement agency that collected it.
It is unclear whether the latter provision applies if the data is shared with an out-of-state or federal law enforcement agency.

Under the bill, an automated license plate recognition system is one that uses one or more mobile or fixed high-speed cameras with optical character recognition technology software that:

1.
detects the presence of a motor vehicle;

2.
captures the image of its license plate;

3.
converts the image into computer readable data;

4.
stores this data together with the date, time, and location of the captured image in a database;
and

5.
links this data to other applications or compares it with other data stored in other databases.

It is unclear whether the bill applies when other types of agencies use such systems for noncriminal matters, e.
g.
, a tax collector's office uses the system to enforce property tax laws, and shares the data with a law enforcement agency.